What I Just Finished Reading
First Term at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton, Second Form at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton, Third Year at Malory Towers by Enid Blyton. I watched the first series of this in 2020 and then forgot it existed until I came across a trailer for series 5. I'm now halfway through series 4 and discovered at Christmas that my parents have got our old children's books out of the loft and they're on the bookshelves in my sister's old room. I couldn't remember anything about these books and was curious about what they changed for the TV series. And then I really enjoyed re-reading them.

The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland. I saw another book by the author recced, but the library had this one, so I borrowed this one. I mostly enjoyed it - it was about four women who were friends in high school. They were going to do great things, but then they realise at their 25th reunion that their lives are crap. So they set about improving them. Which was fine, but they either had pots of money or had a source of pots of money, which just made it all a bit too easy for me.

The Body in the Blitz by Robin Stevens. I struggled a bit with this one. The main characters are 10 and 11 and I can't stand one of them. And it's set during the war, which isn't a favourite time period of mine.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Room Full of Bones by Elly Griffiths. I am enjoying this, but it's got some weird stuff going on with Aboriginal beliefs and the setting makes Norfolk sound... well, exactly like I think it's like (I've never been there). But it has interested me enough to reserve the first of the series at the library (they literally don't have a single one of my books on ebook). And I can see elements of Spooks' Ruth and Harry in Ruth and Nelson.

What I'm Reading Next
Saving Missy by Beth Morrey. I went looking for some bargains on Kobo, liked the sound of this one and then found the library also had it on ebook, with no waiting list. I'm hoping it will be a nice palate cleanser after the dreariness of Norfolk.

Mirrored from my blog.

I thought I'd failed my 2024 goal by 1 book, but then I checked back and it turns out my goal was not quite what I thought it was and I actually succeeded! Here's the goal:

So my goal for 2024 is once again to read 12 books that I acquired before 2024. And that my to read pile should not have gone up by the end of the year.

I read 13 books that I acquired before 2024. And acquired 13 more than I read. In total I acquired the same number of books as I read and therefore my to read pile did not go up!

This year's goal is simpler. I currently have 38 books to read. By the end of the year that number should be lower. It ought to be easy as two of them are library books. And some of the physical books are reference books, so I just need to read enough of those to decide if I'm keeping them or not.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Belgrave Square Murder by Emily Organ. This has 73 pages. The story starts on page 5. I made it to page 12. Which was the start of chapter 3. It's just really badly written and I had no idea what was going on. I am not generally a fan of description, but this book really needs some. The first two chapters were the main character interrogating a witness, but pretty much all we got were their words. It felt like it went by so fast I couldn't take it in. And it's impossible to tell if the witness is telling the truth without body language or some way of telling how they say the words.

Secrets at Sutherland Hall by Jenna Bennett. A historical murder book that I actually enjoyed! Well, sort of. I felt the murder mystery went from 'no one could possibly have done it' to 'this person did it' without anyone making any progress. So it came out of the blue, wasn't really supported by anything that happened earlier in the book and I wasn't convinced they'd done it. However, I did really like the characters. I'd read more of the series with these characters in if they were available at the library or a whole lot cheaper than £7.

The People on Platform 5 by Clare Pooley. This was a perfect read for when I was getting over norovirus and didn't have the energy to do anything. It's about some people on a train carriage who end up speaking to each other and then improve each other's lives. It's a lovely happy story.

The Examiner by Janice Hallett. This was the one book I bought in Kobo's Black Friday sale. I was waiting for the library to get the ebook and then decided it was worth paying £1.99 not to wait. And it was good. As with her first book, I guessed one of the things, but not all of what was going on. But then it felt way too insane to be guessable.

What I'm Currently Reading
The Lost Exam by DS Lang. This is entirely because it's short. Including this book I have 17 books I've acquired this year that I haven't read and I need to get that down to 12 by the end of the year. I only just started it today, so I can't say whether it's any good or not yet. Although interestingly it's by the same person as one of the books I gave up on for really not being my thing. It seems like this is more my thing, at least based on the 20 pages I've read so far.

What I'm Reading Next
I think I've read all the short historical murder mysteries now, so I need to pick one I think I might give up on. Of the free historical murder books I acquired I've read 9, given up on 2 and still have 12 to go!

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
Murder at the Mayfair Hotel by CJ Archer. My mum recently sent me a link to get 19 free books of historical murder mysteries. Which is right up my street depending on the time period. So of course I downloaded them all and this was the first on my ebook reader. And it was dull. The main character had her family die and was taken in by estranged relatives who were rich and owned (and lived in) a hotel. And someone was murdered. And I just didn't care about any of the characters. I finished it, but I'm not sure why because I didn't care whodunnit even after I found out who did it.

Murder at Merisham Lodge by Celina Grace. This starts a pair of characters in service. Although there are murders, most of their time is taken up by work. It did have interesting characters, but there just wasn't enough of the murder mystery. I finished it because I wanted to know whodunnit.

A Precarious Homecoming by DS Lang. This was very much not my thing. For some reason I got two and a bit chapters in, someone was killed and all I wanted to do was to not read it any more. It's set in America which I'm not that interested in and I hated all the characters.

What I'm Currently Reading
Unruly by David Mitchell. I needed something different after those three and I've had this sitting around for a while after it was 99p. I am enjoying it - it's really interesting and I'm learning a lot, especially about the pre-William the Conqueror Kings. And I quite like his asides about learning history in the 1980s because it's not that dissimilar to my experience of learning it.

What I'm Reading Next
Displeasure Island by Alice Bell. I read the first book in this series a while ago and added it to my Kobo wishlist to remind me to check again later if the library has the ebook version yet. And then it was 99p, so I bought it. I am looking forward to a bit of fiction that I know I'll enjoy!

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
A Fatal Flaw by Faith Martin, A Fatal Secret by Faith Martin, A Fatal Truth by Faith Martin, A Fatal Affair by Faith Martin, A Fatal Night by Faith Martin, A Fatal End by Faith Martin. In other words, I finished the series. I solved the problem of too many other people also reading these books and borrowed a few at once - I was getting through each of them in two or three days.

And I am really missing the series now it's gone. I don't know if I'll read any of her others yet, as it's the characters and the setting that I enjoyed and the others have different characters and different settings. But I also felt that there were a lot of things that get followed up in the next book and then don't get resolved. And although it was clear how it was going to end it still managed to be unsatisfactory. Not enough that it spoiled my enjoyment of the series as a whole, but enough to make it annoyed when I finished the last one.

What I'm Currently Reading
Make It So by Patrick Stewart. It is good, I'm just still dealing with the book hangover from the Faith Martin series and so I'm struggling to get excited about it.

What I'm Reading Next
I can't contemplate that yet. Although I did put a hold on an interesting library book. There are only 36 people waiting per copy! So it's definitely not going to be the book I'm reading next.

Mirrored from my blog.

What I Just Finished Reading
A Fatal Mistake by Faith Martin. There are 8 books in this series and it turns out my library has all of them as ebooks. They are all now in my wish list in order and I do plan to read my way through them all. I enjoyed this one more than the previous one, now the characters and setting are established.

Nosy Neighbours by Freya Sampson. I've read her two previous books and then discovered she had written another. So I read it and I enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed her previous books more.

What I'm Currently Reading
A Fatal Flaw by Faith Martin. Book three in the series. All I've really read so far is the murder and the set up of the story. I feel like I know what to expect from these books now and it's not going to be particularly unexpected.

Making It So by Patrick Stewart. I think someone else is reading through the 'Fatal' series before me, so while I was waiting I remembered America had a bank holiday and maybe that would be an occasion for a Kobo sale. It was, and this book was 99p. So far I'm still on his childhood, but it is really interesting because it's proper post-war northern working class.

What I'm Reading Next
A Fatal Secret by Faith Martin. Inevitably I'll be onto book four at some point once I've finished the other two.

Mirrored from my blog.

I know, from reading Not Always Right, that drive-throughs are more popular in America, where they have drive-through pharmacies and drive-through banks. Here it's just fast food and coffees. Near me (in what turned out to be a 7 minute drive on quiet roads) I went to a Costa drive-through.

Judging from the car park, I was the only customer. I might have been less confused if there had been someone in front of me. As it was I drove along, noticed a big sign saying what you could buy and drove closer to read it. I then found out that it's not possible to read it from the car and also I'd driven past the speaker where you order things.

I'd already checked the menu in advance, so I just got a hot chocolate. Although that took a while because I struggled to hear the person at the other end because of the traffic (particularly the lorries) going past on the main road parallel to where I was.

I went round to the window where I waited for a while and realised the rain was coming in through my open window. I got my hot chocolate and paid. I had thought it through in advance and moved my stuff from the cup holder - it usually holds my keys (my car has keyless start, but not keyless entry) and the broken off parts of my wing mirror.

I was impressed that the hot chocolate was still slightly too hot to drink when I got home. However, although the cup was recyclable, you had to take it to Costa to recycle. I also couldn't tell if they had any vegan cakes and it was too much effort to ask. So all in all, it would have been a much better experience to have gone in to the place, rather than go to the drive through.

I'll give it a score of 2/10.

Mirrored from my blog.

I signed up to unsent-letters-exchange this year. Last year I picked up a pinch hit and enjoyed it, so this year I signed up. But was thinking that I didn't really need to get a story. And then I ended up getting a great Jo Grant story.

Until I See You Again (3234 words) by AstroGirl
Fandom: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: The Doctor & Jo Grant, Jo Grant/Cliff Jones
Characters: Jo Grant, Fourteenth Doctor (Doctor Who)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Friendship, Aging, Reconnecting with old friends, Mentions of Doctor/River
Summary: Jo writes letters. Eventually, the Doctor responds.

I wrote some SJA. For which I re-watched some. It being on the iPlayer now makes it much easier than getting out the DVDs. In fact I re-watched a whole series before I stopped myself - I could have quite easily re-watched the whole thing.

Alien Tales (1097 words) by paranoidangel
Fandom: Sarah Jane Adventures
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Luke Smith, Clyde Langer
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Aliens
Summary: A selection of texts between Luke and Clyde after he starts at Oxford.

It was a good thing to get my writing again - the last thing I wrote I finished in November. And since then I've signed up for intoabar which I haven't written for since 2013. I only let myself sign up because I've mostly written my unconventionalcourtship fic which is going to be due about the same time. And I'm a bit busy at the moment out dancing most weekends between now and the deadline. I want to say I've thought about which fandoms to put down, but it's going to be Pike meeting someone from Doctor Who or SJA, so that could be a character I know well or not...

My Unconventional Courtship fic took a while because I couldn't decide whether it should end happily ever after (or at least okay for now) or everyone dies. I looked back at previous Unconventional Courtship fics to see how many ended happily.

I've written 9 of them and:

• 3 are happy
• 2 are happy but angsty before we get there
• 2 are unhappy
• 2 where the relationship doesn't change during the fic

So in summary, anything I write is likely to be angsty.

I wrote a fic two(!) years ago where Harry turns up at Sarah's in the present, using the Big Finish canon where the Doctor dropped him off a few decades in the future. Someone in the comments asked for more and I thought I'd like to write more. And came up with some more. I am finally writing some more. At least I have a first draft for chapter two and a vague idea for what could be chapter two or a sequel depending on how it comes out. But I've missed writing Sarah and Harry.

On a related note, I had a problem with my bandwidth getting out of control, which I solved by making my fic archive private. At some point I should really sort that out since there were definitely some non-bot visitors. I was too stressed to do anything at the time and now I keep forgetting/can't quite muster up the enthusiasm.

Mirrored from my blog.

I've known for a long time that eating cold pizza was a thing. But I've only had takeaway pizza once, at university, and it wasn't that exciting, so the opportunity hasn't really come up.

So I purposely did it: got a takeaway pizza that was two meals worth, ate half and then put the other half in the fridge.

It was a vegan pizza, so maybe it was different, but I really liked it. It tasted the same cold as it did hot, just cold. I don't know if the opportunity will come up again, but if I did, I would eat cold pizza again.

I'll give it 8/10 - if only because it takes longer and costs more than just bunging a frozen pizza in the oven.

Mirrored from my blog.

I survived my first month at my new job. For the first week survival was definitely the best word as I was so tired, including on the Saturday. And I managed to have something go wrong every week for the first few weeks, including a plumbing non-emergency (I've had it happen before) and my laptop charger being temperamental about whether it would charge or not (a new one fixed that problem).

Currently I have an hour for lunch and everyone has their lunch at different times at their desks, so I've been getting a lot of reading done. My commute is all through villages and country roads, so I've seen plenty of cyclists, an average of a tractor a week, a horse (being ridden down the road), a turkey (standing at the side of the road watching the cars go past) and a pheasant (eating something by the side of road, not bothered by the cars going past extremely close - as per usual with pheasants). Also fields with horses, sheep and a lot of water. And it when it rains a lot (like it did last week) some of the roads turn into lakes. But it's better than my previous commute on a dual carriageway, some of which is at 10mph due to multiple roadworks lasting months/years.

I've finally had some time to write. The unsent-letters-exchange sign ups started around the same time as I started my new job. I signed up knowing I had a free long weekend this weekend and I could write it then. I spent the intervening time thinking about it, and now it's mostly written. I'm considering whether some of it should be in person rather than epistolary, so it's going to sit for a bit while I think about that. The deadline is at Passover, so I have plenty of time.

And in the meantime I'll also be writing unconventionalcourtship. I have a summary and a plan, so hopefully that won't take too long to write. Especially as my weekends get busy in May. The summary I have ends: find out the true meaning of trust and betrayal which is just crying out for a Blake's 7-style ending. I haven't 100% made up my mind which way it will go yet.

I've also been watching a load of Lego Masters. I was trying to keep an eye on E4 on Sunday afternoons to see when Lego Masters Australia was back and it turned out I'd missed New Zealand series 1 and USA series 3 (New Zealand series 2 is currently on and I will binge that once it's finished). The NZ version is really small. They only had six teams (to Australia's eight) and half the prize money. But since all the episodes are 44 minutes (Australia's are variable - sometimes can be an hour and a half) it actually works ok. I really enjoyed it. USA is tough to get through the first half of the series because they only have 42 minutes and twelve teams. It's just too many teams and not enough time to get to know anyone or really remember what's going on. Once they're down to six teams it's much better. There's a lot of things in there that show there's clearly a lot of money in it, but that's not a good thing. I much prefer the Australia version.

Mirrored from my blog.